


The IPS-N Caliban in Action

by jxdkid



Category: Lancer (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Action, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 07:27:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23847415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jxdkid/pseuds/jxdkid
Summary: A IPS-N Caliban pilot shows off what the mech in capable of.Primarily an action scene, translated from the Lancer TTRPG's mech-combat system.





	The IPS-N Caliban in Action

Zerrick watched the navigation screen as his breaching pod approached the target at high speeds. Zerrick braced himself just before impact, as the pod’s front mounted drill bore into the enemy star-ship. Zerrick shifted his body around to try and get comfortable as the drill did its work, until he heard a ping. The pod had successfully bore through the ship’s hull and released a fast hardening gel to create an airtight seal. The front of the pod slid open allowing Zerrick to slide out landing in the ship’s cargo bay with a loud metallic thud.

His mech suit, automatically recognizing a successful breach, hummed to life. The IPS-Northstar Caliban is smaller than the average mechanized chassis, being likened more to a power-armor than a mech, but like other mechs of its size class, it outclasses power-armors in every way, while still being viable in combat theaters better suited to human proportions. The Caliban itself is bulky, like a combination spacesuit and heavy plate armor, with mechanical supports in the arms, so that the pilot can use weapons that are otherwise too heavy. The suit’s comp/con AI system automatically scanned the room around him and invaded the ships open ended networks. Inside his helmet displays of the ship’s accessible systems and layout appeared. On the map, room he was in was flashing red indicating that they knew he was there, further enforced by the 10 life forms the map showed heading to his location. As Zerrick pulled his Cannibal Heavy-Howitzer Shotgun from one of the pod’s compartments, His comp/con AI calculated that given the size of the ship there were likely between 30 and 40 crew members total, but as they were low level pirates they likely couldn’t afford more than 2 mech capable mercenaries, and the ships size limited them to the same size class as Zerrick’s Caliban. Zerrick assessed his chances of success in his head, decided he liked his odds and continued with the plan. He checked the map again, to find that the cargo bay had only one entrance. He embedded a devise just above the double doors before finding a large metal crate to hide behind. A small camera on a crane arm rose from his shoulder to peak around the crate so he could watch the door.

Time passed, then the doors slide open revealing 8 unarmored soldiers with a variety of guns and 2 in SSC Atlas mechs. The Atlas is in the same size class as The Caliban, but much sleeker barely augmenting the pilots. Built for speed, maneuverability, and precision the Atlas is best in one on one confrontations and close quarters combat. Each Atlas had a custom paint job, One blood red with black stripes like a tiger with the face plate styled like a four eyed demon with a sharp toothed smile, and the other deep ocean blue with white tiger stripes and a cycloptic face plate. Demon-face was armed a pair of Power Knuckles with a Terashima Blade hanging from their hip. Cyclops held a Type-1 mech-grade assault rifle with their own Terashima Blade on their back.

Zerrick watched as they all entered the room, waiting for the perfect opportunity, until he saw it. He clicked the detonator, the devise he attached above the doors lit up before exploding in fire and shrapnel, blanketing the entrance with smoke. Zerrick turned the corner, walking towards the smokescreen. He counted to himself, “1,2,3,4,” he pointed his shotgun forward as he stopped 2 feet away from the edge of the smoke, “5,” as Demon-face launched themselves forward from the smoke, Zerrick shot into the smoke, Demon-face having lunged out from higher than he expected. Demon-face came down on Zerrick with his right hook on his helmet, before landing and delivering a gut punch with their left arm, small explosive flashes punctuating each hit, then with their right arm they reached for the Terashima Blade pulling it from its sheath and cutting upward leaving a scar on the Caliban’s bulky armor.

The smoke still obscured his line of sight to Cyclops, so Zerrick focused on Demon-face. He lifted his shotgun to Demon-face’s chest, but just as he pulled the trigger Demon-face knocked the barrel upward, wasting the last shell loaded into it. In response Zerrick tried to ram his mech’s weight into Demon-face, but they managed to brace themself against it, holding their ground.

With the force of the Cannibal Shotgun’s missed shots, the smoke began to clear, however Cyclops was no where to be found, not even as a body, among the unarmored corpses that piled in front of the doors.

Zerrick dropped his shotgun’s barrel in his left hand, pointing his arm at Demon-face, opening the built-in wrist-mounted shotgun before taking a shot. Demon-face activated their Power Knuckle and blocked the shot with their palm negating the shot with the knuckle’s electromagnetic field. Growing frustrated with his inability to hit them, Zerrick opened his Cannibal Shotgun’s loading chamber forcibly releasing the empty shells at Demon-face, who didn’t consider that someone would use their reload as an attack, allowing the shells to both hit him, one in the head and the other in the chest. Zerrick quickly plugged new shells into the gun as Demon-face reeled.

As Zerrick closed his gun, Cyclops reappeared behind him on top of one of the cargo crates, as their cloaking system deactivated. Cyclops loaded a specially marked magazine into their assault rifle, before opening fire on Zerrick, who, upon noticing them tried to move behind Demon-face. Despite his efforts, each bullet stuck to the hull of Zerrick’s mechs before all exploding at one, throwing him into a nearby crate. Cyclops then lowered themself as they reloaded their gun, using the crates corner for cover.

Demon-face recomposed themself, as Zerrick was thrown away from them, they quickly turned taking the first position of the Terashima martial arts’ Troll Stance, characterized by its armor crushing power but lack of precision. Demon-face swung their sword with their full body over their head, crashing down into Zerrick aiming for the collar bone, luckily for Zerrick, he had invested in Hard-point reinforcements, stopping the blade from braking completely through to him. With the blade still stuck in the Caliban armor, Demon-face pulled and twisted the blade as they swept a kick to Zerrick’s legs, knocking him prone on the ground. Demon-face let go of his sword before jumping onto Zerrick and swinging at him with their power knuckles. Despite his compromised state, Zerrick managed to grab the first attack, and shift enough to dodge the second.

In response to the recent stress, Zerrick’s Comp/Con AI, started to overcharge running the mech’s reactor past its normal limitations and heating up the mech, while increasing the power available to all of its systems for a short time. Zerrick flipped a mode-switch on his shotgun, before pushing against Demon-face allowing him to point his Cannibal shotgun at Demon-face’s chest and pull the trigger. Firing both barrels rather than the standard single fire, at point blank range, Launching Demon-face off him and into a crate against the back wall with a violent crack, leaving their suit sparking with exposed elements, and bio-mechanical tendons. Invigorated by the force of his last attack, Zerrick broke Demon-face’s blade while it was still embedded in his shoulder and quickly shot to his feet, and pursued Demon-face, while activating his mech’s autonomous repair systems, mending the cuts and dents in its armor. Just before he reached Demon-face, he reloaded his shotgun, allowing the ejected empty shells to act as a follow up attack, keeping demon-face dazed and damaging them farther.

From their elevated position Cyclops shot at Zerrick again, using the same explosive ammunition. Knocking Zerrick aside as he closed in on Demon-face. Taking advantage of the Atlas’s high mobility Cyclops masterfully re-positioned themself, on top of the crate Demon-face was smashed into. They checked on their comrade, who gave a slightly strained thumbs-up. Demon-face pulled themself out of the crater their body had made in the crate, standing on their feet as they activated their own repair systems. The exposed bio-mech tendons returned to position before flexing as they were properly reattached, and the sparking ceased. As Demon-face moved readied themself to keep fighting, they could tell that their mech was still extensively damaged, but it could still fight.

Zerrick in his feet, before charging at Demon-face and slamming his full weight into them, embedding them back into the crate, crushing them against it. He then stepped back and readied his Cannibal Shotgun, still in double barrel firing mode. Demon-face braced for the attack, their mech tightened its bio-mech tendons, hardening its armor. The shot ripped through the hardened shell, leaving Demon-face’s mech barely holding together.

Enraged, and desperate, Demon-face, pulled themself out of the crate, jumping at Zerrick, using the Atlas’s incredible strength to grab him and drag him to the ground, knocking him prone. Demon-face, pushing their mech to the limit, quickly began swinging at Zerrick with their Power Knuckles striking the head 4 times, damaging some of his on-board systems.

Cyclops reloaded their assault rifle with standard ammunition, before shooting down from their elevated position at Zerrick, who simply shrugged off the attack. Seeing that Cyclops drew their Terashima Blade and jumped down at Zerrick bringing down their blade like a guillotine. Zerrick instinctively put their shotgun up as a shield, causing the blade to bounce off it.

Zerrick’s mech re-shifted its armor to cover-up some of the damages and give time for the autonomous repair system to do its work. In Demon-face’s blind fury they didn’t see Zerrick open the Cannibal Shotgun, to reload it, allowing the empty shells to launched at their face with a sickening crack as they bust through Demon-face’s helmet to the human underneath.

Cyclops, having witnessed their partner’s defeat, started to run, reactivating their cloaking system as they did. Zerrick shot at where he thought they would be, but Cyclops was gone.

Dispatching the rest of the crew was going to be easy for Zerrick, if two Atlas mech’s couldn’t stop him what chance did the unarmored crew have?


End file.
